Firefighters battle Blue Ridge Parkway wildfire. The latest on driving, hiking.
Blue Ridge Parkway officials on Saturday updated progress on battling a wildfire that shut roads and trails near Pisgah Inn the past week.
While rangers reopened a stretch of the parkway Friday near the inn, several trails and a nearby road remained closed, according to a parkway news release.
Firefighters “have made good progress” containing the 200-acre fire in rough terrain near the inn, officials said.
The fire was 50% contained Saturday morning, according to the parkway.
Flames have spread to 370 acres, but only because of “burnout operations in which firefighters remove fuels between the containment lines and the fire’s edge,” according to the news release.
Burnouts “better control the intensity of the fire and secure containment lines,” officials said in the release.
About 30 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service were working to contain the fire Saturday. The cause of the fire, which broke out Wednesday, remains under investigation, officials said.
The fire is in Pisgah National Forest and is called the Barnett Branch Fire.
Pisgah Inn is in Canton, about 26 miles southwest of Asheville and about 230 miles, or a 2 1/2-hour drive west of Charlotte.
What’s open, closed
Parkway officials on Saturday offered these updates on road and trail closures:
▪ The Blue Ridge Parkway reopened Friday from Highway 276 to Pisgah Inn.
▪ Fryingpan Tower also reopened.
Still closed:
▪ Yellow Gap Road. Officials were considering opening the road later Saturday depending on conditions.
▪ Barnett Branch Trail No. 618 above Yellow Gap Road.
▪ Buck Springs Trail No. 104.
▪ Mountains to Sea Trail from Highway 276 north to the Pisgah Inn.
“The trails are expected to remain closed for the next few days due to fire activity and resulting hazards,” according to the parkway news release.
This story was originally published April 30, 2022 at 12:20 PM.